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Zettian Guards
Though these fairly small, robot-like Soulborgs travel slowly and only in pairs, they are not easy targets. Their thick, full-body armor is tough to penetrate, so they often keep advancing despite a barrage of enemy fire. But this defensive edge has its price: the weighty armor slows the Zettians down and affects their aim. To make up for this, they tend to target a single enemy and attack it in quick succession with their laser-powered weapons. An enemy must survive the attack and then find a weakness in their nigh-impenetrable armor in order to have a chance of defeating a Zettian Guard. Stats *Life: 1 *Move: 4 *Range: 7 *Attack: 2 *Defense: 7 *Point Value: 70 *Figures Per Squad: 2 Abilities *'Zettian Targeting': When attacking, if your second Zettian Guard attacks the same figure as the first Zettian Guard, add one attack die to the second Zettian Guard's attack. Synergy *May benefit from Deathwalker 9000’s Range Enhancement ability. *May benefit from Warden 816's Guard Leadership movement bonus ability. Trivia Zettian Guards hold the unique record of being the only two unit squad in the original classic game. They are the first guards, the first Soulborg squad and the only unique Soulborg squad in the game. However many players lament that that the Soulborg Guard Range Enhancement is on Deathwalker 9000's card and not on the Zettian Guards' card, allowing their range to be enhanced by any Deathwalker. Strategy A common misconception when playing the Zettian Guards is that all of their strength lies in the Zettian Targeting power. This should just be viewed as a bonus. With only 2 members, Zettian Targeting will only allow one of the Zettian Guards to attack with an additional die, and it has no effect if your first Zettian Guard destroys the figure it attacks. Furthermore, it becomes totally useless the moment one Zettian Guard falls in battle, since you need both of them to activate the power. Attacking is not the strong suit of the Zettian Guards, defense and range are (after all, they are Guards), and they should be played to emphasize those strong suits. Having the highest defense rating of any squad in the game (much higher than any ranged squad, excluding special powers), and being immune to many special powers that cannot target soulborgs, the Zettian Guards can survive longer than nearly any other squad figure. This makes the Zettian Guards cheap and effective choices to hold Glyphs, block landing areas or bridges, hold crucial choke points or even tie up opposing ranged squad figures. Once they've been positioned, you can do all of these things without even placing an order marker on the Zettians. It also allows them to survive in a firefight against other ranged squads. For example, the Zettian Guards can be extremely annoying for the 4th Massachusetts line to bring down - since the Zettians out-range them by one, they can remain out of the range of Wait then Fire while attacking, making the 4th Mass shoot with 2 attack dice into their 7 defense dice. The Zettians, on the other hand, are firing with 2 (or 3 sometimes with Zettian Targeting) attack dice into 2 (or 3, depending on army construction) defense dice. Zettians are at their best when used as a distraction. A good way to set up this distraction is to lead with the Zettian Guards, immediately seeking a perch on high ground from which they will be able to fire on the opponent most of the game. As long as there is a decent perch near to the starting zone, they should be able to accomplish this. It becomes much easier to attain this position with the help of Warden 816 to increase their move and Deathwalker 9000 to increase their range. Once positioned there, they probably don't need to do too much more moving (movement is not an area where Zettian Guards excel). They need to get to that place where they can effectively present a threat to the opponent, hopefully on high ground. With height advantage, their ability to draw enemy shots and not be destroyed is increased by adding an extra defense die. Also, although attacking is not their strong suit, the high ground will increase their once meager attack to 3 and give the second Zettian Guard an attack of 4 if on the same figure. This is formidable - comparable with Syvarris or Kaemon Awa, but for fewer points. Opponents will be forced to respect this. You want your opponent to attack the Zettians because there is a good chance that their attack will bounce off the Soulborgs' armor. This makes the Zettian Guards a great place for the X Order Marker. A good thing to remember is that the Zettian Guards are one of the few unique squads in the game and therefore are compatible with Viking Spirit powers. While they may not seem at first glance like the best choice, this depends on the game stage in question. Zettian Guards make great clean-up units with their long range and high defense, if you still have both of them around the end of the game, you might want to considered boosting their stats. Category:Utgar Category:Unique Squad Category:Soulborg Category:Rise of the Valkyrie